TIRTAN separates hydrogen production from the drink completely, much like devices for hydrogen inhalation.
1. Hydrogen production in a separate PEM cell
Hydrogen is produced in a separate electrolytic cell with a PEM membrane. Oxygen from the anode is vented separately outside the device and never comes into contact with the drink.
2. Supply of pure gas
The finished hydrogen gas travels through a tube to the mixer. Nothing but the gas itself enters the drink.
3. Dissolving with a vortex
In a special mixer, hydrogen is worked into the drink by means of a vortex. The swirling greatly increases the area where the gas meets the liquid, so hydrogen dissolves faster and more efficiently than by simple bubbling. Dissolution therefore does not depend on how large the bubbles forming on the electrode are. How well the hydrogen dissolves in the drink is determined by the mixer, not by the condition of the electrolyser.
4. Hydrogen production with a reserve
The output of the PEM cell is deliberately sized so that more hydrogen reaches the mixer than can dissolve in the drink. Even if the cell’s output were to decrease slightly over years of use, there is still enough hydrogen to saturate the drink.
5. Infusing more than just water
Because hydrogen is produced outside the drink and reaches the mixer only as pure gas, the drink does not have to serve as the medium for electrolysis. Tea, juice, coffee and other drinks can therefore also be enriched with hydrogen.
This is not possible with bottles that carry out electrolysis directly in the drink. Sugars, acids, minerals and other substances would decompose on the electrodes and create undesirable by-products, the electrodes would quickly become fouled and the device would be damaged. That is why the manufacturers of these bottles expressly recommend using water only.

If you want to judge whether hydrogen water is doing you good, you need to be sure that you are really drinking it at the same quality. You cannot evaluate the effect of something when you do not know whether it has changed. The consistency and verifiability of the device are therefore the foundation of trust in using it at all.

In most hydrogen bottles, electrolysis takes place directly in the drink. The electrodes are located in the base of the bottle, and hydrogen is produced directly in the water you then drink.
Simpler bottles have both electrodes immersed in the water. The products from the anode – oxygen, ozone and possibly chlorine – therefore also end up in the drink.
Bottles with SPE/PEM technology have a membrane between the electrodes that separates the anode and its products from the drink. The cathode, however, remains in direct contact with the water being infused.
Electrodes are under stress during electrolysis. Depending on the quality of the material, trace amounts of metals can be released from them over time. With high-quality titanium electrodes with a platinum coating this release is small; with cheaper materials it can be higher. Our own measurements on a worn water ioniser confirmed that once the platinum coating is worn through, titanium is released into the water.
A problem the user cannot see
Electrolysis directly in the drink also has a technical drawback. A PEM membrane works best with very pure water. Minerals from ordinary water (calcium, magnesium) gradually build up in it, and the device’s performance declines inconspicuously and unpredictably:
minerals reduce the conductivity of the membrane,
limescale forms on the electrodes and covers their active surface,
so the device produces less hydrogen for the same time and current.
Scaling has another, less well-known consequence. When minerals cover part of the electrode surface, hydrogen starts to form only on the remaining free areas. More of it then forms at each of these spots at once, and tiny bubbles merge into larger ones. Large bubbles have a smaller surface area relative to their volume and rise to the surface faster. The hydrogen therefore does not have time to pass into the water, and much of it escapes. Paradoxically, a scaled bottle may bubble more visibly than a new one, giving the user the impression that it works even better.
And the user has no way of telling. Dissolved hydrogen is invisible, tasteless and odourless. The bottle lights up when you press the button, and bubbles appear in the water. This looks the same in a new bottle as in one whose performance has already dropped significantly. Users can therefore drink the water for months believing it contains the declared amount of hydrogen when it no longer does.
Sometimes the declared values do not match reality from the very start. At normal atmospheric pressure and room temperature, at most about 1.6 mg of hydrogen dissolves per litre of water (about 1,600 ppb). Figures well above this limit, which are common on the market, should therefore be taken with a pinch of salt. They can only be reached briefly in a sealed container under pressure, and once it is opened the hydrogen escapes quickly.

The electrodes do not touch the drink. Neither by-products of electrolysis nor traces of electrode material get into the drink.
Only hydrogen is added to the drink. Oxygen, ozone and chlorine do not enter it.
Minerals from the drink do not burden the electrolyser. They do not reach the PEM cell, so they cannot clog it. Our PEM cell works with the ultra-pure water this technology is designed for, which benefits both its performance and its service life.
You can see it working. If hydrogen is flowing into the mixer, the device is producing hydrogen and the drink is being infused.
Consistent drink quality. Thanks to the reserve in hydrogen production and the protection of the cell from minerals, infusion remains stable over the long term. You can rely on drinking a drink of the same quality as at the beginning.
Almost any drink can be enriched with hydrogen, not just water.